Mac Pro and Mac Studio refreshes may wait till 2025
A new report claims that Apple's current schedule doesn't include updates to its Mac Pro and Mac Studio machines until the middle of 2025.
Mac Studio and Mac Pro may stick with M2 chips until 2025.
The Mac Studio and Mac Pro got their most recent refreshes at the 2023 WWDC, it may be a bit of a wait for the next refresh. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the two pro-level Macs will be skipped in 2024. If accurate, this would mean a two-year refresh cycle for Apple's current highest-end machines.
Apple's M3 chip debuted with Pro and Max versions out of the gate, at the October 2023 MacBook Pro-centric event. Other chips started at the base, and worked their ways up to Pro, Max, and Ultra.
It took over a year for M1 to get an Ultra variant. The M1 Ultra debuted in the refreshed Mac Pro and then-new Mac Studio.
Apple's M1 and M2 chips in Mac Pro and Mac Studio had clear interconnects, so a chip like the Ultra was a clear possibility relatively early. The M3 does not have this obvious interconnect, so it's possible Apple had this road map in mind all along.
It's also not the first time a Mac has skipped a generation. The iMac went from M1 to M3 processor, for instance.
Relatively speaking, Apple does not sell that many Mac Studio or Mac Pro units. The company's flagships remain the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines -- and it's not close.
No other new Macs are expected to be announced during WWDC, which runs from June 10 to 14. Most of the rest of the Mac line is expected to gain M4 chips by the end of 2024.
Rumor Score: Likely
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Further they have demonstrated acceleration in model ramp of CPUs last year by releasing multiple SKUs of M3* at the same time. This indicates massively improved partnership and logistics with TSMC and if continued to improve then we have a fair shot at across the board launch for WWDC which would be a tour de force to signal Apple is back with a vengeance and is all in on AI.
I am hoping hoping for M4 Ultra shockwave at WWDC to send the Pros swooning.
Unless any of the software I use suddenly needs a M4 or M5 to run, I am content to keep the jingle in my pockets.
I recognize the difference between a "want" or a "need". I may want the latest and greatest but I do not need it for what I do. Thus in the "soldered" world that Apple has now created, I order the maximum system memory and the largest SSD I think I could possibly need for my use for years.
I enjoy watching the "dog and pony" show for the new stuff and the last few years they have really had to work to generate apparent enthusiasm for their new products with small incremental changes.
i hypothesise that the M1 and M2 Ultras existed only because of the capabilities of silicon production at the time. M3, M4 and beyond are showing very good performance at lower power consumptions and perhaps an M4 in a chassis with active cooling can do much better than we’ve just seen in the new iPad Pro.
Apple released an iPad with an M4. They are about to introduce a pile of operating systems with all sorts of huge AI enhancements. The M4 is specfically designed for those enhancements, and we're be told it will be an entire YEAR before the flagship desktop models will have those features?
Sorry... just makes no sense. By mid-2025, the Studio would be three generations behind as the M5 processor would almost certainly be out by then.
I still believe that we will see M4 Max and M4 Ultra Studios at WWDC in three weeks... and if not then, then in the fall when the next MacOS comes out.
The actual Geekbench scores tell a different story (on the same site notice all of the Apple Silicon scores are in Apple computers) There are no separate postings by Apple but Qualcomm however does appears to post bench tests note: OEM's appear to post too but the OEM numbers are lower a lot lower in a actual computer.
Apples schedule isn't dictated by Microsoft or Qualcomm nor is theirs by Apple the lead times for all are just too long. Apple however would be missing a golden opportunity in not getting the Studio M4 Ultra's and the Pro Mac M4's in the hands of the developers in June 2024, developers are screaming for more bandwidth and more usable UMA memory and that is only half of the equation they are also crying for as much behind the scenes software support from Apple as possible.
If Apple can execute they would come out of 2024 with an inside track to run what they need to run (software wise) on the Edge.
https://www.semiaccurate.com/2024/04/24/qualcomm-is-cheating-on-their-snapdragon-x-elite-pro-benchmarks/ The scores in actual OEM machines are a lot lower than Qualcomm bench tests.
https://browser.geekbench.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=dell+snapdragon In OEM machines
https://browser.geekbench.com/search?page=2&q=snapdragon&utf8=%E2%9C%93 In OEM machines
Not like this they won't...
You are so right Apples timing in this area sucks up to this point when it comes to the Studio Ultra's and the Pro Macs. iCreate is partially right a fire needs to be lit. If you don't release a product in a timely matter you can't make a sell and Apple in this area has been very untimely.
If Apple could (hoping) release all the hounds of war (MacBook M4 Pro Max, Studio M4 Ultra's and the Pro Mac M4's in June/July Apple along with OpenAI GPT-4o would be a great one two punch towards Google/Microsoft/Intel/AMD/Nvidia particularity Apples on the edge hardware capability which works better than most now.
Releasing a M4 iPad Pro with a M4 SOC was the right thing to do going into the future for end users even most don't realize it yet.
Personally I believe Apple is going full force on AI for their new operating systems and for this they need to get the M4 out there as quickly as possible, so they can once again show the benefits of a perfect marriage of hardware and software.
Sure, laptops come first, but their desktops are a ‘status symbol’ to them: demonstrate what their products can do for professionals who demand high-end performance.
It’s either at WWDC or late 2024 I believe.
i predict the release timeline to be the following:
WWDC 2024 - All desktop Macs ( Mac mini / Studio / Pro) transition to M4 counter parts
Fall 2024 - All MBP models transition to M4 series
Spring 2025 - MBA / iMac are the first to get the M5 (No M4)